


Hyrulean Daydreaming

by retrom



Category: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Video Game), The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossing Timelines, Rough Draft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26891659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retrom/pseuds/retrom
Summary: I make no illusions of this becoming an actual story to be finished. Therefore I am posting a very rough draft to share my ideas because thats all I really want to do.That said; even before Age of Calamity was announced I had the idea of adding BotW characters to a Hyrule Warriors like setting. One thing I wanted to emphasize is I really enjoy Impa's design in the original Hyrule Warriors, as well as Ganondorf. Then this became a compilation of prompts I've had in mind for years and a few more concepts were inspired to fill some of the gaps. I do like Impa's fighting style in AoC though, perhaps if Paya ever becomes a fighter... or even Purah.
Kudos: 2





	1. Foreword

Originally I hated Skyward Sword, and what it did to the lore of the series. Demise & Hylia seem so un-necessary. When I was attempting to flesh this story out however, I found an interesting way to implement him, I think. Which also plays into Ghirahim. I've actually had the idea for Ganondorf to have a rebellious son for over a decade. After using Demise; Ghirahim seemed more fitting than an original character. I've posted that before, it's embarrassing to recycle but these ideas are not solidified.

Dark Link stealing the Fierce Deity mask is a decade old idea as well, but Linkle/Aryll becoming a bunny is a new twist. I should explain; Linkle has a dumb name... so I like to think of her as a teenage version of Aryll. Linkle was supposed to be a sister-like figure afterall; and I think her compass makes a fun counterpart to Aryll's telescope. Again, I'm recycling; but this is closer to my initial concept than my previous expression.

I just want to share these ideas, and maybe play with some of them. I don't want to feel obligated to expand on them; thats not the point. Some of them likely can't stand on their on; or they don't fit together. Others are simply headcanons and design preferences: not ideas for a story. Salt & pepper are spices, not a meal; not even side dishes! That's what I have written though, condiments. So take it all with a grain please.

Throw in Paya as a shrine maiden as well; she bonds with Zelda by helping develop her (triforce) powers (instead of Hylia). This "story" makes no sense chronologically, its just for fun!


	2. Chapter 2

Ganondorf is the first male born to the Gerudo in hundreds of years. As fate would have it, he was born as a prince between his sisters; Urbosa & Riju. One day he meets a clairvoyant witch who convinces him to claim his right to the throne from his big sister. Following Cia's suggestion, Ganondorf trespasses into the forbidden pyramid. In the depths of the ruins he finds the Trident of Demise, transforming him into a warlord.

With his newfound power and greed for more, Ganon sets his eyes on the rest of Hyrule and the Triforce. While the King was reluctant to decare war, Zelda is proactive in asking the Gorons, Rito, and Zora to join them against the threat of Ganon. Much to everyone's surprise, Urbosa also volunteers; feeling responsible for her brother's actions. Ganon is still victorious and lays his hands on the Triforce... but it breaks into three parts, only leaving behind a piece of it's power. After retreating and regrouping, Impa shares the Sheikah legend explaining the division of the Triforce. If an impure heart touches it they will only be granted it's power, while a member of the royal family will receive wisdom and a hero who can reunite them will inherit the courage to do so.

In the battle against Ganon the captain of the knights was injured and sent home to rest with his family. His nephew Link has potential as a swordsman but is still just a squire. Link's sister Aryll on the otherhand loves to explore and often finds herself lost in the woods. One evening their grandma sends Link to bring his sister back while dinner is cooking. Link himself almost gets lost as well until a mysterious owl offers to lead him to his sister. They find her in a clearing with a stone platform around a half buried sword. She's feebly trying to draw the blade to no avail and is just about to give up, then her eyes light up when she sees her brother and encourages him to try. It's not until after he pulls the sword that Link notices the owl disappeared as soon as he entered the meadow. He looks at the blade however and sees an image of the owl as a reflection. Kaepora Gaebora explains he is the guardian spirit of the Master Sword and led Link here to draw it. He beckons Link to travel to Kakariko to meet the princess and fulfill his destiny.

Impa recognizes Link as the nephew of the knights' captain and asks what he's doing with the Master Sword. Purah responds; isn't it obvious? Only the holder of the Triforce of Courage can draw it, he's the hero! Kaepora confirms it's true but Link must earn three pendants to unlock the blade's true power. After collecting the pendants Link defeats Ganon and Cia disappears...

Arc Two

Time passes and Cia plots to take over Hyrule again. Finding a shard of the Twilight Mirror she uses it to create a shadow of Link. Meanwhile the citizens of Hyrule are enjoying a three day festival. Link meets a Happy Mask Salesman and his apprentice Kafei. They have narrowed down the location of the Fierce Deity's Mask to the ruins of an ancient shrine. Just before they claim their prize they're confronted by Dark Link who steals the mask and banishes them to the Twilight Realm. Link is transformed into a wolf and Kafei becomes a keaton-fox. Somehow Aryll has ended up here as well, but she's a pink rabbit. Together the three make their way to Midna's palace and she reveals how to defeat Dark Link.

Arc Three

In an attempt to revive Ganondorf, Cia has instead summoned their future son; Ghirahim. The rebellious fencer manages to attack Hyrule Castle, break the Master Sword with his bare hands, and plans to make Zelda his bride... Kaepora manifests and leads Link to a blacksmith who can fix the sword. Rauru agrees to repair the blade if Link can overcome a Lynel using a wooden sword.

Arc Four

Marin washes up in Hyrule where she is found on the beach by Dimitri the dodongo. As they travel together she also befriends Ricky the kangaroo & Moosh the flying bear. It turns out Vaati the wind mage was behind the hurricane that shipwrecked her and she must find the Wind Fish in order to stop him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is merely the first paragraph of the "rough draft" expanded as if this were an actual story. So you can imagine what the rest might be like.

Ganondorf is the first male of the Gerudo tribe in hundreds of years. As fate would have it, he was born into royalty between his sisters Urbosa & Riju. While they got along during their childhood, tensions began to stir when it was time to ascend to the throne. The Gerudo were typically a matriarchy, but was it because they never had a prince before? One day in the back alley of the market he meets a witch who claims she's a clairvoyant and he has an intriguing destiny. Ganondorf ignores her at first until she asks, "Wouldn't you like to be king... of all Hyrule?" Dispite his doubts, she does provoke his curiosity when she encourages him to enter the forbidden Pyramid. Centuries ago a figure known as Demise ruled the desert as Pharaoh, building the tomb through slavery of the Gerudo.

Deep inside the Pyramid of Demise, Ganondorf finds the demon-king's sarcophagus. It's surrounded by a semi-solid lake of cooling magma. The stones are still hotter than a bed of coals and scorch Ganondorf's sabatons. There is no hope of crossing it on foot. Nearby is the rotting corpse of a dodongo. It must have been drawn to the heat but how did it die? Regardless, if Ganondorf can just roll it over the magma he can use it as a bridge. It's a backbreaking task; pushing, sliding, pulling the dinosaur carcass by the tail... He'll have to jump from the skull to the coffin's altar. 

Ganondorf pushes back the lid, his exhaustion making it feel as heavy as the dodongo. Demise's skeleton is still covered in dark scales. His hands look more like claws wrapped around a black trident with red runes & fiery aesthetics. The serated edges of the blades paint a grim fate for it's victims. Ganondorf reaches for the shaft, and as he wrestles away the weapon he feels reinvigorated. His muscles ripple as they're filled with strength bursting from his biceps, even his hair blossoms into a crimson mane cascading over his shoulders.

Ganon emerges from the Pyramid feeling like a mighty warlord. Outside waiting for him is the witch, "It seems I was right. Not only have you become stronger but more handsome I must admit." Ganon questions who is she and how much does she know? Cia explains she's a sorceress of time. While she can see the past clear as day, the future is as blinding as nightfall. She can only manipulate the present... and the hearts of men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the alternate name of "Ganon" to distinguish his transformation from a Twilight Princess like design into his warlord look from Hyrule Warriors.


	4. Chapter 4

Now that I've shared my expansion on the first paragraph I feel inspired to explain some of the rest, like I've been given that freedom.

As I said, the collection of stories I posted was a very rough draft. I was trying to brainstorm how to improve the second paragraph. My original idea of Zelda gathering the champions before the war even happened was too presumptuous. I toyed with the idea of Ganon/dorf speaking with the king of Hyrule like he does in Ocarina of Time; pledging false allegiance... by asking for help with his plan to claim the Gerudo throne? Urbosa would tell Zelda not to trust her brother and Impa might not trust Urbosa. The distrust was just an excuse to have them spar, I thought it might present an opportunity to admire Impa's design. The duel would be interrupted by an injured guard reporting Ganon/dorf's betrayal to Impa. It felt forced to make him mention the captain of the knights was injured; but I had to because I wanted to include Link's uncle from A Link to the Past. Thinking about it now, I suppose the captain himself could have made the report... Then Impa could have delivered the news of his death to his family and met Link after he draws the sword.

After Impa explains to Zelda that she has the Triforce of Wisdom I wanted to make her struggle to use it's powers; presumably to find the Triforce of Courage. I wanted Paya to be a shrine maiden and help her. It was dragging the story off course though; Paya just wanted to explore ruins and explain artifacts to Zelda.

When Link is in the Lost Woods looking for his sister, I wanted to invoke the same feeling as that one official art for Link to the Past. You know the one, with the Master Sword? I wanted to push the Link into it like a painting in Mario 64. The owl's reflection on the sword reminded me of Link's Awakening though for some reason. Gaebora basically fills the role of Fi, and probably Link's mouth piece like his fairies.

Originally Ravio was going to be Kafei's mask selling partner, but he didn't fit the story or I wanted to do other things with him. Dark Link would attack them to steal the Mask. Either way I just wanted a badass boss battle against the Fierce Deity. Everything else was an unthoughtout means to an end; I did like the idea of borrowing Link's bunny form for his sister though.

When I was compiling the ideas; I remembered originally, when I was a tryhard teenager... Ganondorf's son stole a dragon's arm to replace the one it bit off. I wanted to purify that 'badassery' of it's angsty mary sue cringe and I think thats why I wanted Link to fight a Lynel. I've been really impressed with them since Breath of the Wild transformed them from a forgettable sprite in LttP to miniboss minotaurs. I didn't want Rauru to be Kaepora's real form, I wanted him to be the old man from the original Zelda; who gives you the wooden sword. It was at this point I realized I just wanted to make references, not write a story. Breaking the Master Sword did give a good excuse to use the wooden sword though. He had to overcome some kind of trial with it, so I took the chance to fawn over the Lynel.

When Marin was announced as DLC for Hyrule Warriors I imagined my own ideas on how she would fight. I came up with the idea she would summon the animal pals from the Oracle games. That was the whole idea for "Arc Four". I practically plucked Vaati out of a hat, "Who's the villain? ...Vaati!" but was I really going to write the unrealistic HW-style battle between Marin and Vaati? She doesn't stand a chance! Well he's a 'Wind' mage... maybe the 'Wind' Fish can help? I just want Link to go to Koholint again. Do I really though? What could he do there besides reunite with Marin and leave her again? No, I just want to be teased by the idea; ever since I read a fanfic a long time ago about Link finding a book about Koholint in a library. That's all I remember of that fanfic, but it was a tease that keeps tempting me.

I fondly remember another about Saria leaving Kokiri forest and she was supposed to grow up I thought but she got amnesia and lived with some girl in Castle Town instead. I tried to make up my own story about wolfos and stalfos, like the fight when adult Link enters the sacred meadow near the Forest Temple.

I feel like mentioning I've had a game idea for Zelda as well; unrelated to the rest of this. Though you may have seen all the Four Swords inspiration. It would be a turnbased RPG like Final Fantasy 5 or the Bravely Games; where the Four Links would be blank slates to use job classes. TriForce Heroes had a similar idea but it wasn't a fun game. The Four Swords manga had Vio betray the other Links and bond with Dark Link, I've wondered if I could do something similar with Ravio; they're both purple right? I'm so creative.

Another Zelda game I've had in mind is a metroidvania style adventure, featuring the equipment from Breath of the Wild. It could be a remake of Adventure of Link, I think AoL's dungeons would be more palatable with a map. I think the Original Zelda is more appealing with a world map as well, the instruction manual did start one and encourage you to fill in the rest.


	5. Chapter 5

In a cabin outside the Lost Woods lives a brave young man and his adventurous teenage sister. Once again Aryll was trying to make sense of why her compass always got confused in the forest. She's explored the eastern and southern edges outside the treeline but every time she tries to go north or west she gets turned around. Aryll pulls out her telescope and looks above... spotting a mysterious owl in the distance and blindly chasing after it.

Dusk is falling and Link's grandmother sends him out to find his sister. The Lost Woods seem quiet, except for the hooting of an owl. He should know the forest like the back of his hand, after fetching Aryll all these years; but he doesn't know the back of his hand either. A few days ago a gold marking appeared, glowing whenever he was in the woods. The deeper he went, the brighter it shined, until he reached a clearing he's never seen before. Moonlight beamed through the canopy and reflected off a sword plunged in a stone pedestal.

Aryll leaned from side to side as she tugged at the hilt of the sword. She thought all she needed was some leverage and pushed against the pedestal with her feet. All to no avail. With a frustrated sigh she lets go and rubs her sore hands. Then she spots Link! Excitedly, Aryll runs over to her brother and pulls him back to the sword encouraging him to try.

Link wraps his hands around the handle, looking down at the blade. He sees an image of an owl and hears it speaking in his mind. Kaepora Gaebora explains he is the guardian of the Master Sword, waiting for the holder of Courage. Hyrule must be in grave danger because the Triforce only divides when an impure heart approaches. 

A few days ago, the leader of the Sheikah was sharing the same story with Hyrule's princess. A similar golden marking appeared on Zelda's hand, prompting Impa to reveal why her tribe served the royal family. It seemed she had inherited the piece of Wisdom but she had no idea how to invoke it. Impa suggested Zelda come with her to Kakariko. The shrine maiden would soon be going through a ritual of awakening, perhaps it would help the princess as well.

Impa introduced Zelda to Paya, having her lead the way to the spring in the hills where the ceremony would take place. The two girls would dive in dressed in white and emerge showing their true colors. While they were there in the relative wilderness Paya gathered a few fruits and vegetables. Impa found a papaya and teased Paya about her birthmark, getting a giggle out of Zelda.

The rising moon reflects off the surface of the spring, matching the gowns of the shrine maiden and the princess. Paya reaches for Zelda's hand, hoping it will be less scary to jump at the same time. On the count of three the girls take a deep breath and leap into the water. Impa and her sister Purah are watching and waiting for them to come up for air. Purah is a bit distracted, she brought a device she's been fiddling with lately... Zelda emerges from the spring with a hearty gasp. Impa tells Purah to put the Sheikah Slate away and get Paya's towel ready while she takes one to Zelda. She dries her face and hair first before wrapping it around her body, asking where Paya is. Impa looks over to see Purah playing with the camera. Purah taps on the screen to check the clock asking how long can Paya hold her breath? Impa rolls her eyes and sprints into the water herself to look for her.

Sneaking out of the shadows a figure clad in red grabs Zelda with a familiar hand over her mouth before she can scream. Purah caught what happened though and yelled for Impa. The sisters give chase but they're cut off by a group from the Yiga clan. Impa fights most of them off with her naginata while Purah squishes the rest by summoning a giant frog spirit. Afterwards, Purah hesitates to tell Impa what she really saw; Paya was the Yiga who abducted Zelda!


End file.
